WIMAUMA, Fla. — Growth and development have been a huge challenge for people who live in South Hillsborough County.
Schools are also facing challenges. Sumner High School opened 18 months ago and is now already overcapacity.
In fact, Wimauma is the largest growing area in Hillsborough County Schools.
Currently, the district does have plans to accommodate the growth the area has seen.
In the last three years, the district has purchased 60 acres on Bishop Road and 100 acres on West Lake Drive.
"We also look for alternative ways to do it. Right off the Lake Wimauma, we have that 100-acre parcel instead of looking for one site, we're gonna put three schools on one site, that's a nontraditional way to approach it," Chris Farkas, Chief of Operations for Hillsborough County Public Schools said. "We have one or two of those in the county but when you don't have a lot of land, but you have an opportunity to buy it, you buy what you can and then kind of put an Educational Complex there. So we're excited about that opportunity too."
Farkas hopes that the new high school would be complete by 2025 and a middle school to follow.
But, the district is going to be busy. Farkas said a recent report suggests they'll need 18 additional schools in the next 15 years, 16 of those in the Southern Part of the county.
